Thailand's 60-day Visa-free entry remained in force at every border as of 23 June 2026, despite the cabinet's 19 May decision to cut most arrivals to 30 days . The reduction takes effect only once the Royal Gazette (Thailand's official legal register) publishes the three required Interior Ministry announcements, and only 15 days after that. The Tourism Authority of Thailand confirmed the announcements have not yet appeared, so the longer allowance still governs every arrival until they do.
20MAY
Thailand's 60-day visa window still open
1 min read
09:26UTC
Thailand's 60-day visa-free entry remained in force at every border on 23 June; the cabinet's 30-day cut still awaits Royal Gazette publication before its 15-day clock can start.
SocietyDeveloping
Key takeaway
Thailand's 60-day visa-free entry holds until the Royal Gazette publishes the cut, then waits a further 15 days.
Deep Analysis
In plain English
Thailand has let visitors from 93 countries enter without a visa for 60 days since July 2024. The Thai cabinet voted to cut this to 30 days in May 2026. But Thai law requires the change to be officially published in the Royal Gazette, Thailand's government register, before it becomes binding. Three separate announcements from the Interior Ministry need to appear in the Gazette, and none has been published yet. Once those announcements appear, there is an additional 15-day delay before the shorter allowance takes effect. So anyone travelling to Thailand now gets the full 60 days, and there will be visible public notice before the cut lands. For nomads who want to stay longer, Thailand's Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) remains unchanged. The DTV provides 180 days and requires proof of 500,000 baht in savings (roughly 13,000 euros). It sits outside the visa-exemption framework and is unaffected by the cabinet decision.
Root Causes
Thailand's cabinet voted to cut the 60-day window in response to Q1 2026 tourism-arrivals data showing a 3.4% year-on-year decline alongside documented grey-capital networks and nominee-owned businesses operating under the visa-exemption scheme. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul's stated goal is to shift the visitor mix toward higher-spending tourists who use the priced Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) rather than the free exemption.
The gazette-dependent activation mechanism is standard in Thai administrative law under Section 5 of the Thai Constitution, which requires all binding regulations to be published in the Royal Gazette. The three-announcement requirement for Interior Ministry changes creates a structural delay between cabinet decision and legal effect.
What could happen next?
- Risk
The Royal Gazette publication may arrive without widely noticed advance warning; a traveller who books a 45-day trip to Thailand after the Gazette publishes but before the 15-day effective date could arrive in the 60-day window and depart after the 30-day regime is live.
- Consequence
Nomads who currently use Thailand as a 60-day visa-free base between other stays will face a 30-day limit once the cut takes effect. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) stated it will provide updates once publication is confirmed; monitoring TAT Newsroom for the Gazette publication date is the actionable step.
Sources:TAT Newsroom
First Reported In
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TAT Newsroom· 23 Jun 2026
Read original →Causes and effects
This Event
Thailand's 60-day visa window still open
An approved policy that has not been gazetted has no legal force, so the longer allowance still governs every arrival.
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